1. Technical Field
The following description relates to one or more sheet feeding techniques for an image forming apparatus.
2. Related Art
Among image forming apparatuses, for example, there is an apparatus provided with a loading portion configured to be loaded with a sheet, a lifting mechanism configured to lift the loading portion, and a detecting unit configured to detect whether the loading portion reaches a predetermined height. It is noted that the predetermined height represents such a height that a sheet on the loading portion can be fed to a carrying route inside a main body of the apparatus.
In the meantime, a configuration has been known, in which ON/OFF control of a lifting operation by the lifting mechanism is mechanically performed with, for example, a cam (see Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 2006-151655). Specifically, the aforementioned configuration includes a cam and a control unit configured to control a rotational position of the cam. The control unit holds the cam in a first rotational position to set the lifting operation ON until the loading portion reaches the predetermined height, and rotates the cam to a second rotational position to set the lifting operation OFF when the loading portion reaches the predetermined height.